Which side would you have been on in 1775?

The easy answer is of course "I'd be a Patriot!" but stop to really think about it. Only something like one third to one half of the Colonials were active Patriots, around 1 in 5 were Loyalists, and the rest were neutral.

I took a history of South Carolina class with Dr. Walter Edgar who was also a consultant on Mel Gibson's The Patriot and he brought the question up and made a very convincing case for loyalism. The Professor of Military Science at USC also emphatically argued that he would have been a Loyalist - I do not mean this as an appeal to authority or to regale you with college tales...just to say why it interests me and the first time I really thought about it.

Don't look at it from a modern perspective with everything we know now about how awesome America turned out but rather imagine you're living at the time.

The more I think about it, given my mindset and personality I would definitely have been a loyalist and supported Union with Britain. The Patriots would have seemed like a bunch of loony-bins protesting against taxes that seem reasonable after the Seven Years and French-Indian War. Britannia is the most powerful empire in the world, a shining light of civilization and resolute shield against the despots of mainland Europe, and we get to be a part of it. I would not have been the type to easily relate to the idealistic and liberal intellectuals and firebrands of Philadelphia and Boston.

I would have been team Great Britain.

Here are some of the historical motivations for the Loyalists:

- They were older, better established, and resisted radical change
- They felt that rebellion against the Crown—the legitimate government—was morally wrong.
- They were alienated when the Patriots resorted to violence, such as burning houses and tarring and feathering.
- They wanted to take a middle-of-the road position and were angry when forced by the Patriots to declare their opposition.
- They had a long-standing sentimental attachment to Britain (often with business and family links).
- They were procrastinators who realized that independence was bound to come someday, but wanted to postpone the moment.
- They were cautious and afraid that chaos and mob rule would result.
- Some were pessimists who lacked the confidence in the future displayed by the Patriots. Others recalled the dreadful experiences of many Jacobite rebels after the failure of the last Jacobite rebellion as recently as 1745 who often lost their lands when the Hanoverian government won.
- They felt a need for order and believed that Parliament was the legitimate authority.
- They felt themselves to be weak or threatened within American society and in need of an outside defender such as the British Crown and Parliament.
- They had been promised freedom from slavery by the British.
- They felt that being a part of the British Empire was crucial in terms of commerce and their business operations

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What about you?